‘On a cold, blustery early March morning in 1943 on the huge parade ground in Catterick Camp, North Yorkshire, the sergeant major, a formidable ex-blacksmith of a man, takes over the parade, bellows the order ‘Attenn..sh’n’, pauses to ensure that all are listening, then shouts: ‘I want five volunteers to learn Japanese.’ No one moves, not a single offer. After a further pause he shouts: ‘Five volunteers, you, you, you, you and you!’ I was that fifth ‘you’.’

From that moment my journey began.

Geoffrey Bownas Writer, Translator, Lecturer, widely known over the last half century for his writings, translations, broadcasts and commentaries relating to Japan and an eminent Japanese Studies scholar who pioneered teaching in this field at Oxford (1954) and Sheffield (1966), has at last completed a memoir.

It is both ‘a literary triumph and a compelling read’, as well as a historical record of some significance tracking Japan’s post-war history from abject poverty to unimaginable prosperity as the world’s second largest economy.